Jews Don’t Say Happy New Year

What’s the best wish for the new year?

Ever notice that Jews don’t traditionally wish each other “happy new year”?

Instead we say the Hebrew phrase “shanah tovah” which — in spite of the mistaken translation that appears on almost all greeting cards — has no connection at all to the expression “have a happy new year.”

Shanah tovahconveys the hope for a good year rather than a happy one. And the reason for that distinction contains great significance.

This past January, the Atlantic Monthly had a fascinating article titled There’s More to Life than Being Happy. The author, Emily Esfahani Smith, points out how researchers are beginning to caution against the pursuit of mere happiness. They found that a meaningful life and a happy life overlap in certain ways, but are ultimately very different. Leading a happy life, the psychologists found, is associated with being a "taker" while leading a meaningful life corresponds with being a "giver."

"Happiness without meaning characterizes a relatively shallow, self-absorbed or even selfish life, in which things go well, needs and desire are easily satisfied and difficult or taxing entanglements are avoided," the author writes.

Happy people get joy from receiving while people leading meaningful lives get joy from giving to others.

She quotes Kathleen Vohs, one of the authors of a new study to be published this year in The Journal of Positive Psychology: "Happy people get joy from receiving benefits from others while people leading meaningful lives get a lot of joy from giving to others." In other words, meaning transcends the self while happiness is all about giving the self what it wants.

According to Roy Baumeister, the lead researcher of the study, “What sets human beings apart from animals is not the pursuit of happiness, which occurs all across the natural world, but the pursuit of meaning, which is unique to humans.”

Long before all of these studies, Jews somehow understood this intuitively. Happy is good, but good is better.

To hope for a happy new year is to give primacy to the ideal of a hedonistic culture whose greatest goal is “to have a good time.” To seek a good year however is to recognize the superiority of meaning over the joy of the moment.

The word “good” has special meaning in the Torah. The first time we find it used is in the series of sentences where God, after each day of creation, views his handiwork and proclaims it “good”. More, when God completed his work he saw all that he had done “and behold it was very good.”

What does that mean? In what way was the world good? Surely it was not in any moral sense that it was being praised. The commentators offer a profound insight. The word good indicates that every part of creation fulfilled God’s purpose: it was good because it was what it was meant to be.

That is the deepest meaning of the word good when it is applied to us and to our lives. We are good when we achieve our purpose; our lives are good when they fulfill what they are meant to be.

We know many people of whom it can be said that they had good lives in spite of their having had to endure great unhappiness. Indeed, the truly great chose lives of sacrifice over pleasure and left a legacy of inspiration and achievement that they never could have accomplished had they been solely concerned with personal gratification.

A shanah tovah, a good year, from a spiritual perspective, is far more blessed than a simply happy one.

Meaning Leads to Happiness

A shanah tovah may not emphasize happiness, yet it is the most certain way to ultimately achieve happiness.

Because another powerful idea discovered by contemporary psychologists is that happiness most often is the byproduct of a meaningful life. It’s precisely when we don’t go looking for it and are willing to set it aside in the interest of a loftier goal that we find it unexpectedly landing on us with a force that we never considered possible.

Happiness is the byproduct of a meaningful life.

You would think that acquiring ever more money would make people happier. There are millions of people ready to testify from their own experience that it just isn’t so. But if getting more won’t do it, what will? Social scientists have come to a significant conclusion: while having money doesn’t automatically lead to happiness, giving it away almost always achieves that goal!

The prestigious Science magazine (March, 2008) tells us that new research reveals when individuals dole out money for gifts for friends or charitable donations they get a boost in happiness while those who spend on themselves get no such cheery lift. “We wanted to test our theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn,” said Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia. What they discovered was that personal spending had no link with a person’s happiness, while spending on others and charity was significantly related to a boost in happiness.

“Regardless of how much income each person made,” Dunn said, “those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not.”

In a fascinating experiment, researchers gave college students a $5 or $20 bill, asking them to spend the money by that evening. Half the participants were instructed to spend the money on themselves, and the remaining students were told to spend it on others. Participants who spent the windfall on others — which included toys for siblings and meals eaten with friends — reported feeling happier at the end of the day than those who spent the money on themselves. Spending as little as $5 on other people produced a measurable surge in happiness on a given day, while purchasing supposedly pleasure -gratifying personal items produced almost no change in mood.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all that people find giving money away very rewarding,” Aaron Ahuvia, associate professor of marketing at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, explained. “People spend a lot of money to make their lives feel meaningful, significant and important. When you give away money you are making that same kind of purchase, only you are doing it in a more effective way.” He added, “What you’re really trying to buy is meaning to life.”

Meaning is our ultimate goal; in our pursuit of the “good” life we will discover the reward of true happiness.

So shana tova, may you have a year filled with meaning and purpose. And happiness that will surely follow.

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About the Author

Rabbi Benjamin Blech, a frequent contributor to Aish, is a Professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University and an internationally recognized educator, religious leader, and lecturer. Author of 14 highly acclaimed books with combined sales of over a half million copies, his newest, The World From A Spiritual Perspective, is a collection of over 100 of his best Aish articles. See his website at www.benjaminblech.com.

Visitor Comments: 37

(31)
Joey,
January 18, 2015 8:55 AM

One interesting insight I saw like this was about Psalm 23, which begins "the Lord is my shepherd" and ends "goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life." The lesson: follow God, and you can trust good things to come to you on their own. ;-)

God bless!

(30)
Allan,
January 1, 2015 7:07 PM

Happy New Year

Maybe we should greet every gentile we meet with L'Shana tova or Gut Yontiff. I think your ideas may be part of the Orthodox tradition and that is fine except 80% of the worlds Jews are not Orthodox. Dennis Prager makes a good point in greeting people within their culture with terms them may understand and appreciate even though we may not practice them.

Steve,
January 6, 2015 11:26 AM

re: Happy New Year

And wishing a gentile a good year will not be understood? You are being a bit extreme, aren't you?

(29)
Michal Evenari,
January 1, 2015 3:41 PM

This is true only for people who do not have a connection to Hashem

I do not find it important whether I give of get something,the fact that I am Jewish and Hashems daughter makesme happy. We are "told" to give and it is therefore normal.But to get a present makes me also happy. And to know that Hashem loves us, can make us happy, every moment we think about it.

Anonymous,
January 6, 2015 11:33 AM

Re: This is true ...

Your analysis is very superficial. Our connection to HaShem is built upon our walking in His Ways. He is by definition a giver, not a taker. So we get close closer to Him by imitating Him and giving as He does. Further, a person naturally tends to feel close to that in which he invests his time and resources. When we "invest" in someone we love by giving to him, we strengthen the bonds of love we feel for him.

Both words "shana" and "tova" are found in Tanach (Bible, Prophets, and Scriptures) many times. These were written way bay before German culture or the Yiddish language evolved.

(25)
Anonymous,
September 22, 2014 11:36 PM

Be generous

I think we need to be generous with ourselves and each other. If someone greets me with Happy New Year this week, I will accept it with love and gratitude, not split hairs and remember this article. I find this article to be more than a tad judgmental, which is not what MY Holy Days are about. Mine are about inclusivity, family and togetherness. People greet in different ways. Some are from Israel, some Ethiopia, some Orange County, CA. Who cares?! Some know more Hebrew, some just got converted, some are guests and are other religions. Who cares?! God does not care. And neither do I.

Herschel,
January 1, 2015 5:54 PM

Amen

(24)
Shraga Fayvel,
September 22, 2014 3:32 PM

Nonsense!

Nonsense! My grandparents were born in Boston in the late 1880s, parents from Eastern Europe, Traditional (I.e. Not Reform) and they said Happy New Year, as did everyone back home 60-70 years ago! Shanah Tovah is a translation, not original. I prefer the Sefardi, "She-tizku le-shanim rabbot."

Michaela Francis,
September 22, 2014 11:45 PM

Agreed

With your first word. This article is a bit limiting and seems to miss the point of the Holy Day. I would never be upset or feel anything less than welcoming to someone who wished me Happy New Year this week. Jews must be as forgiving as Christians, if someone gets our Holy Days "wrong" we can allow it, recognize it, and move on with LOVE.

(23)
Zinaida Brown,
September 22, 2014 2:27 PM

To all my jews friends I wish"Shanah tovah"

(22)
Anonymous,
September 18, 2014 11:03 PM

To all of Hashem's family, "Shanah tovah "

(21)
Jonathan,
September 18, 2014 4:29 PM

DR VIKTOR FRANKL (PSYCHIATRIST) - "THE WILL TO MEANING."

I agree with much that was said in the above article.Dr Frankl, in the middle of the 1900's, published his first book entitled "Man's search for meaning." He followed this up with many books on life and "meaning." From this he developed his therapy technique "Logotherapy" (existential psychiatry) - "logos" being the Greek for "meaning." Very briefly he maintained that life without meaning cannot be happy - as he said: "Man can do with almost any how as long as there is a why." Lastly, Frankl was in a German concentration camp during the second world war and due to the attempts to dehumanize the prisoners he commenced the humanisation of psychiatry through logotherapy.

(20)
Jim42,
September 18, 2014 3:58 PM

US 's poursuit of happiness is faulty in the faulty translation

Nowhere except in the uSA is the New year the occasion of greeting Happy alone...In Hebrew you know now...but in French we say: " I wish you a GOOD.. and happy New year". US drift is a mistake about translation...of forgetting the Meanings of tradition.

(19)
Anonymous,
September 11, 2013 3:20 AM

Freely give, freely receive

Never return home without doing a good deed.

(18)
Farooq,
September 9, 2013 5:18 PM

Shanah tovah
Shalom

(17)
Avshalom,
September 6, 2013 7:20 PM

Joy vs Happiness

I heard once the "Happiness last as long as the activity that produces it while JOY lasts beyond the activity the produces it, and often that activity is not a happy one...".My interpretation is that doing what's meaningful is always good, but can be unhappy sometimes... though it always leads to the kind of satisfaction that creates lasting Joy. Happy is a very short phenomenon where it is conditional on the circumstances... if you get what you want you are happy while it lasts, otherwise you are miserable...

(16)
Angela,
September 5, 2013 1:04 AM

inspirational

I am not Jewish. But have many loved ones in my life who are. I came here to learn more about Rosh Hashanah. I very much connect with the significance of meaning over happiness. I am Sicilian and come from a long line of hard workers. My own work is very challenging but rewarding because there are people who count on me and trust me to help them and this feels like a blessing from God and makes me content. May God bless you Rabbi for educating others about the significance of sacrifice and the richness of a meaningful life.

(15)
Alex,
September 3, 2013 4:50 PM

One more truth

You'll loose what you keep for yourself, just the given remains!This is a truth that - sooner or later - each of us will learn.

(14)
Malki,
September 2, 2013 6:55 AM

How True! but one line bothered me

Rabbi Blech, thank you for your inspiring article! There was just one line that bothered me: "Long before all of these studies, Jews somehow understood this intuitively. Happy is good, but good is better."Why do you say it is intuitively? The Torah and Godly knowledge has given us this wisdom to understand the depths of the human psyche! Thank you.

(13)
zippi,
September 2, 2013 5:12 AM

amen veamen

So easy:
Give = Meaningful,
Meaningful = Happy!
Ksiwa wachasima toiwe

(12)
Hadassah,
September 2, 2013 5:05 AM

shanah tovah!!! thank you for this Amazing article, exactly what i needed it at this moment, thank you again!!!

(11)
Scott,
September 2, 2013 4:54 AM

Have a good new year.

In a movie someone once commented that Americans were the only people on the planet that demanded to be happy. We even put it in our constitution. The pursuit of happiness. Wow. What an interesting life goal. Being happy. The rest of the world is happy with survival because life is hard.

When I was going thought a divorce many years ago I had two bars I visited. One full of yuppies where I went when things were good. If you were having a good time, they were having a good time. If you weren't happy and upbeat you were sitting alone. They were all about happy new year because that was all they were about. If you were not happy, you were wrong. When the things I was going through were hitting me, I'd go to the other bar. Looking back a shul would have been a better place...but then I was Mr. Poor Choice back then. This place was a dive. Full of people that had hard lives. If I walked in there looking terrible, complete stranger would ask me what was up and listen. They were surviving and helping others survive. It's what got them through their hard days. And gave them their brand of happiness.

It's like that when I encounter Jews. People who know what it's like to have to work to survive as a people...even when life isn't happy. I think that what G*d gives me and what I can do with that is the life I lead. It's what I should expect. It's good, even when I'm not necessarily happy. And it's a long discussion, but doing what is good-what we're supposed to do as Jews-is the only true path of lasting happiness for Jews. Perhaps being "good" leads to happiness, or at least allows us to see the world in the right way and be happy with it.

So I say to all...Have a Good Year. And find your happiness in your striving for and appreciation of goodness.

I think President Kennedy got it right and the framers of the Declaration of Independence could have done better than they did. Life isn't about "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" but rather about "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country". When we give, when we do for other's benefit and well being gives one much more fulfillment than the attitude of "what's in it for me?" This is the core of Judaism, service. To G-d and to His people. Thank you very much for this insightful and thought provoking article. Shanah tovah.

(7)
Linda,
September 1, 2013 11:55 PM

G-d is GOOD

I want a good life if good is happiness give me Good.Amen

(6)
Alene,
September 1, 2013 10:50 PM

Happy vs good

And for all those who do not know the complexities and nuances of happy vs good,
"Happy New Year" works too.

(5)
Avraham,
September 1, 2013 7:19 PM

Thank you Rabbi Blech for clarifying such an important difference between the pursuit of goodness and the pursuit of happiness. Shana Tova.

(4)
Harvey Toback,
September 1, 2013 7:01 PM

Best article of the past year!

I am now forwarding to family and friends.

(3)
Jaya,
September 1, 2013 5:10 PM

Meaningful life .

I found this very inspiring as well as significant article and wish it was taught in schools .

(2)
Anonymous,
September 1, 2013 3:20 PM

Nothing is more true.

(1)
Stacey,
September 1, 2013 3:13 PM

Great article. I sent it to my entire family. "Happy is good. But good is better." Awesome!